1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a navigation information presenting apparatus for providing navigation information of a route, etc. by using a markup language description and a method thereof, and more particularly to a technique which is applied to car navigation systems, personal computers, PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), PDC (Personal Digital Cellular), PHS (Personal Handyphone System), etc., and is available for providing route information or additional information such as route navigation, sightseeing information, a delivery plan, a travel plan, traffic control, scheduling, an amusement, a municipal service, etc. via a network or an electronic medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
With conventional navigation information services, for example, if a point desired to be navigated is specified, the data about that point are listed and presented in many cases. Additionally, their contents include only the geographic information (such as a point, a route to the point, or some facilities, etc.)
Furthermore, with a conventional car navigation system, when a departure point, a destination, enroute spots, etc. are set, an appropriate route is selected based on map information, and only geographic information is output while a car is running, thus it is impossible to output additional information for navigation and guidance at a particular time and/or point. Still further, the route information from a departure point to a destination, which is set by one car navigation system, cannot be ported to another so as to utilize the information.
Besides, in a conventional navigation information service, a data list relating to a place to be presented appears to be uneasy to understand. For example, it is unclear whether such a data list is either a mere data set or a data sequence described in an order to be executed. Accordingly, it is also unclear how to handle the described data.
Additionally, since the contents of described data include only the information about a specified point, it is impossible to flexibly guide the route reaching that point or en-route spots. By way of example, information for guidance such as xe2x80x9cThis facility is famous for ◯◯xe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cReaches ◯◯ in 3 more minutesxe2x80x9d 3 minutes prior to an arrival at a destination cannot be described and provided on a route, with only destination specification.
Furthermore, because data of the conventional navigation information service are provided in a format which is different depending on each system, navigation information are difficult to be reciprocally used. For instance, although point information services can be provided in a car navigation system or a PHS (Personal Handyphone System), their data cannot be shared by the systems.
An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus which can provide the information such as points, routes, and facilities, can actually or virtually perform navigation along a route to a certain point as a user moves or time elapses, and can provide various information for guidance in a format which can be shared by various systems or devices, and a method thereof.
A navigation information presenting apparatus in a first aspect of the present invention comprises an inputting unit, a state acquiring and/or generating unit, a processing unit, and a presenting unit, and presents navigation information to a user or users depending on the state.
The inputting unit inputs a navigation script composed of an instruction sequence based on a predetermined specification, which can describe at least time information and/or point information, and various information for guidance to be output according to at least a time and/or point to be presented, where each of the information is described by a set of combinations of a name which can identify a type of the information and the contents thereof.
The state acquiring unit acquires a state including at least a current time and point, and the state generating unit generates a state including at least either of a virtual current time and point. The processing unit processes the instructions described in an input navigation script according to at least the current or virtual time and point obtained by the state acquisition process or the state generation process. The presenting unit outputs navigation information to be output as the instructions are processed, and presents the navigation information to a user or users.
A navigation information presenting apparatus in a second aspect of the present invention comprises a selecting unit and an outputting unit, and presents navigation information to a user or users depending on a state.
The selecting unit dynamically selects navigation information to be presented according to at least time information and/or point information. The outputting unit outputs selected navigation information according to at least a time and a point to be presented.
A driving managing device in a third aspect of the present invention comprises an inputting unit, a driving management database, a coordinating unit, and an outputting unit, and manages driving data.
The inputting unit inputs a navigation script composed of an instruction sequence based on a predetermined specification, which can describe at least time information and/or point information, and information for guidance to be output according to at least a time and/or point to be presented, where the information is described by a set of combinations of a name which can identify a type of the information and the contents thereof.
The driving management database manages the data describing at least time and/or point information, and at least a reservation state and/or a point state. The coordinating unit makes a comparison and coordination between the navigation script input by the inputting unit and the data of the driving management database, and performs the process for modifying the navigation script and the process for updating the data of the driving management database depending on need, according to the result of the comparison and coordination. The outputting unit outputs a resultant navigation script.
A time coordinating device in a fourth aspect of the present invention comprises an inputting unit, a scheduler, a rule base, and a monitoring and executing device, and proposes an action to be executed by a user depending on whether or not the user reaches by an arrival time.
The inputting unit inputs a navigation script composed of an instruction sequence based on a predetermined specification, which can describe at least time information and/or point information, and information for guidance to be output according to at least a time and/or point to be presented, where the information is described by a set of combinations of a name which can identify a type of the information and the contents thereof.
The scheduler schedules arrival times at respective points. The rule base stores the rules which describe actions to be executed depending on whether or not there is sufficient time to an arrival time. The monitoring/executing device checks the arrival times at which subsequent points from the current point at the current time are reached for at least each of a predetermined time, point, and distance.
A navigation plan creating apparatus in a fifth aspect of the present invention comprises an associating unit, a setting unit, and a creating unit, and creates a navigation plan obtained by combining navigation information.
The associating unit associates the navigation information with one of areas and points of map information. The setting unit sets a route specified on the map information. The creating unit creates a navigation plan by extracting the navigation information associated with the set route.
A navigation information providing apparatus in a sixth aspect of the present invention comprises a managing unit, a retrieving unit, and a providing unit, and provides information to a user.
The managing unit manages the information with a presentation condition relating to a time. The retrieving unit checks the information with the presentation condition for each time step, and retrieves the information which satisfies a time condition. The providing unit provides a user with the information which satisfies the time condition.
A navigation information providing apparatus in a seventh aspect of the present invention comprises a managing unit, an obtaining unit, a retrieving unit, and a providing unit, and provides a user with information.
The managing unit manages the information with a presentation condition relating a place. The obtaining unit obtains the position information of a user. The retrieving unit checks the information with the presentation condition according to the obtained position of the user, and retrieves information which satisfies a place condition. The providing unit provides the user with the information which satisfies the place condition.
A navigation information providing apparatus in an eighth aspect of the present invention comprises a managing unit, an obtaining unit, a retrieving unit, and a providing unit, and provides a user with information.
The managing unit manages the information with a presentation condition relating to a place. The obtaining unit obtains the position information of a user. The retrieving unit checks the information with the presentation condition, and retrieves a user which satisfies a place condition. The providing unit provides the retrieved user with the information with the corresponding presentation condition.